Implementing a FlashSystem grid

You can create a FlashSystem grid and manage systems within a FlashSystem grid by using the management GUI or CLI.

Creating a FlashSystem grid

The system on which you create a FlashSystem grid becomes the coordinator system for that FlashSystem grid.

To create a new FlashSystem grid in the management GUI, go to Settings > System > FlashSystem grid and select Create a new FlashSystem grid > Create.

You can also create a FlashSystem grid by using the managegrid CLI.

Adding a system to a FlashSystem grid

You can add a system to a FlashSystem grid from the FlashSystem grid Storage systems page. On the FlashSystem grid dashboard, go to FlashSystem grid > Storage Systems > Add a system. Then, enter the IP address or the FQDN of the system that you want to add to the FlashSystem grid. The management GUI guides you to verify the certificate to allow the certificate exchange between the coordinator system and the system that is being added to the FlashSystem grid.

Alternatively, a system can join an existing FlashSystem grid from the management GUI.

To join an existing FlashSystem grid, go to Settings > System > FlashSystem grid > Join an existing FlashSystem grid. Then, enter the IP address or the FQDN of the coordinator system of the FlashSystem grid that you want to join. The management GUI guides you to verify the certificate to allow the certificate exchange between the coordinator system and the system that is being added to the FlashSystem grid.

You can also use the managegrid CLI to add a system to the FlashSystem grid. After you create a FlashSystem grid, you can add a system to the FlashSystem grid by performing the following steps in order:
  1. Check the list of scope certificates by using lssystemcertstore CLI. In case the (scope_id = 3) internal_communication certificate is present then download the certificate by using the chsystemcertstore CLI. Otherwise, download certificate by using the chsystemcertstore CLI for scope default or use chsystemcert CLI. Copy the certificate of the FlashSystem grid coordinator-system to the new system, and add it to the truststore by using the mktruststore CLI.
  2. Request to join the FlashSystem grid by using the join option. Provide the IP address or the FQDN of the coordinator system and the entry, which the coordinator system has in the truststore.
  3. Copy the certificate from the new system to the FlashSystem grid coordinator-system, and add it to the truststore.
  4. On the coordinator system, accept the request to join the FlashSystem grid by using the accept option. Provide the IP address or the FQDN of the new system and the entry, which the new system has in the truststore.

Viewing a FlashSystem grid

You can use the FlashSystem grid dashboard to view the total number of systems and partitions that are part of the FlashSystem grid. The FlashSystem grid dashboard also shows whether storage systems in the FlashSystem grid are Healthy or Unhealthy, and Reachable or Unreachable.

The FlashSystem grid dashboard offers several key functions:
  • Hardware health monitoring: indicates the health status of the hardware and highlights any errors or alerts within the FlashSystem grid systems.
  • Storage-capacity usage overview: provides a consolidated view of the storage capacity usage across the FlashSystem grid.
  • System reachability: indicates whether the coordinator system in the FlashSystem grid can connect with each member system in the FlashSystem grid.
  • Migrations: indicates the count and status of partition migrations only if any active partition migrations are happening in the FlashSystem grid.
  • Physical capacity: indicates the aggregated physical capacity metrics across systems in a FlashSystem grid.
  • Logical capacity: indicates the aggregated logical capacity across systems in a FlashSystem grid. Logical capacity is visible only if Flash Core Module (FCM) drives are used in all systems of the FlashSystem grid.

The FlashSystem grid dashboard also shows if any active migrations exist along with the migration status. For more information, see Migrating storage partitions between systems.

The following information about each system in the FlashSystem grid is available on the Storage systems page:
  • Product name
  • System code level
  • Last contacted time
  • Connectivity health: indicates whether connectivity errors or alerts exist on the member system.
  • Hardware health: indicates whether hardware errors or alerts exist on the member system.
  • Physical capacity
The Storage systems page of a FlashSystem grid also shows error data that indicates the type of error faced during visualization of other systems in the FlashSystem grid. The error data is indicated in the form of icons at applicable fields and it also suggests actions to resolve errors.

You can also use the lsgrid, lsgridsystem, lsgridmembers, and lsgridpartition CLIs to visualize the FlashSystem grid.

The Storage partitions page of a FlashSystem grid shows details about storage partitions in the FlashSystem grid.

Removing a system from a FlashSystem grid

You can remove a system from a FlashSystem grid from the FlashSystem grid Storage systems page. On the FlashSystem grid dashboard, go to FlashSystem grid > Storage Systems, click the overflow menu, and select Remove system. If a partition migration is in progress to or from a system in a FlashSystem grid, that particular system cannot be removed from the FlashSystem grid until the migration is complete.

A member system can also be removed from a FlashSystem grid by using the managegrid CLI.

To remove a system from a FlashSystem grid by using the CLI, use the remove option on the coordinator system.

When you run the leave option from a coordinator system, the system leaves the FlashSystem grid and the FlashSystem grid gets deleted. When you run the leave option from a member system, it partially removes that particular member system from the FlashSystem grid. However, to completely remove the member system from the FlashSystem grid, use the -remove option for the member on the coordinator system.

The truststore entries that were created during adding a system to the FlashSystem grid are removed when a member system is removed from the FlashSystem grid.

Removing the last system from a FlashSystem grid results in deleting the FlashSystem grid. When a FlashSystem grid is deleted, the coordinator system cannot see the details of other systems that are removed from the FlashSystem grid such as system health, capacity, and partitions. A member can only remove itself from the FlashSystem grid, whereas a coordinator can remove any system that is part of the FlashSystem grid.

If you run the managegrid -leave command from a member system, remove the member system from the Storage systems page of the FlashSystem grid to avoid an inconsistent FlashSystem grid experience.

If a FlashSystem grid member system is running 8.7.2 or an older software version, then use the -remove option on the coordinator system to remove the member system from the FlashSystem grid. Also, the member system that is removed from the FlashSystem grid needs to run the -leave option.